[Stellar Restoration] was a sword technique Araki had obtained from Keqing, the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing. It allowed him to instantly teleport to the location of a [Lightning Stiletto], detonating it at the same time to deal area damage.
Thus, just as Hikō, the Iwagakure jonin, thought he had dodged the Lightning Pellet and was about to lunge forward, he suddenly discovered that Araki, who had been behind Mahiru, had vanished.
This was no small shock. In battle, letting an enemy slip out of one's sight was an extremely dangerous sign.
It meant the enemy was hidden while he was exposed. The initiative was no longer in his hands!
"Where is he?"
In an instant, Hikō became highly alert. Every muscle in his body tightened, his heels lifted slightly, and he leaned forward just enough to allow himself to dodge at any moment. At the same time, his peripheral vision constantly scanned both sides, trying to locate Araki.
At this moment, if he had turned around and looked at the expressions of the spectators behind him, he would have immediately noticed something was wrong.
Every one of them stood there dumbfounded, staring above Hikō's back as though they had seen a god descend.
"Looking for me?"
Araki, who had already teleported into the air behind Hikō through [Stellar Restoration], smiled faintly and slammed a palm brimming with lightning into the center of his back.
Boom!
In an instant, a massive current coursed through Hikō's body. Blinding violet electricity swallowed his figure, accompanied by a crackling "bzzzt, bzzzt" sound.
"Ahhhhh—"
He was forcibly given a taste of what it felt like to enter [Lightning Release: Lightning Chakra Mode].
Well, it was hot, numb, and painfully exhilarating!
After the lightning faded, Hikō's body was so paralyzed that he could not move.